University of Georgia Athletics
Four Quarters Brings Big Changes
October 29, 2015 | Women's Basketball
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
New Georgia women's basketball coach Joni Taylor has a career coaching record of 0-0, yet she's on equal footing in some areas with her veteran colleagues. The start of the 2015-16 season is the start of a new era in the game and one major rule change will be an adjustment for every coach, from the rookies to the Hall of Famers.
Gone are the two 20-minute halves. Instead, the women will play four 10-minute quarters, so the length of the game will be the same but structured differently. The goal is for it to lead to a more exciting brand of basketball, with a faster pace, better flow and fewer timeouts.
It will also lead to possibly four buzzer-beater shots a game, and who doesn't like a good half-court heave?
"I think you're going to see all women's teams play a lot faster now, going to four quarters," said Taylor, who will make her debut when the Bulldogs open their season against Stetson on Nov. 15. "And I think it's going to just line us up with the professionals. Our kids have aspirations to play overseas or in the WNBA, and women's college basketball was the only basketball league that played two halves."
The move from two halves to four quarters will alter substitution patterns, how coaches use timeouts and impact the game in numerous other ways that coaches may not have even thought about yet.
"I think there's going to be a lot of strategy to it, and obviously as the year goes on you're going to see us adjust to it and everybody get more comfortable with it," Taylor said. "Right now we're just trying, as much as we can, to make game-like situations to get them used to those substitution patterns."
Of course for the players, most if not all of whom played four eight-minute quarters in high school, this switch will be different, but also a return to something they were doing just a few years ago.
I think it will bring a lot more up-tempo pace, which is kind of what women's basketball needs," said sophomore forward Mackenzie Engram, who made the SEC All-Freshman team last season. "We do scenarios in practice that get us more comfortable with it, but personally, obviously it will be an adjustment, but I think it will be an easy adjustment.
"I am only a sophomore and I did play (four quarters) in high school a few years ago, so I think I'll be ready for it, and I think Joni is doing a really good job of preparing us all for the change."
The timeout changes could ultimately be as significant as the switch to quarters. Each team will have three 30-second timeouts and one 60-second timeout per game. In addition, there will be a media timeout at the first dead ball after the 5:00 mark in each quarter.
However, if a coach calls a timeout before that 5:00 mark, that timeout becomes the media timeout. And if a team calls a timeout just a minute or two into a quarter, that means players may be on the court for a while, longer than many are used to.
Add that to the up-tempo style that the Bulldog will be playing and fitness and smart substitutions will be critical.
"I think playing fast is going to be the most exciting part of this season," sophomore guard Haley Clark said, "and knowing that someone can come and get you (substitute) so that you can go all out all the time."
One of the women's game's strengths has been its willingness to adjust and try new things. Along with the move to four quarters, in recent years the 3-point line has been moved back and teams now have 10 seconds to get the ball across the half-court line.
"Whatever is going to grow the game and help us to improve the product on the floor, and put fans in the stands, we're willing to do," Taylor said. "I think that's what you see with the new rule changes. We needed to do something to speed the game up and keep it exciting and put more points in the board. Hopefully this results in that."
And like professional basketball, women's teams will now, following a timeout in the final minute of the fourth quarter, be able to inbound the ball in the frontcourt. Of course they have to still have a timeout to do that.
"There's going to be a lot of strategy involved in all that," Taylor said.
The private preseason scrimmages and the early games in November will be an information harvesting time for teams as they adjust to the chances. Taylor said there will likely be a lot of calls from one coach to another, looking for and sharing information and ideas.
"One thing I'll say about our conference, we share information," she said. "Of course we try to beat each other's brains out when we play, but (communicating on big-picture issues) is something we do really well."
They're likely to have a lot to talk about in the next month or so.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
